Dimitri Patelis was born 1968 in the City of Montreal, Canada and brought up in a suburb of Athens, Greece. He started drawing quite late in 1987 and was the student and apprentice of European renowned surrealist artist Dimitri Yeros.

After developing his skills in drawing with the help of his favorite Masters like DaVinci, Michelangelo, Durer and contemporaries like Dali and Escher and also learning techniques in lithography, silkscreen and copperplate etching he picked up the airbrush. His classic training with the combination of his unique airbrush technique has lead him to develop his own personal style of work.

In 1989 he started working as a painter and illustrator in Athens. In 1991 he moved back to North America to pursue his career in fantasy art and design. In 1993, in Chicago he attended the art festival of science fiction and comic book art, which was his first contact with the industries finest companies and artists. Since then he has generated over one thousand paintings and illustrations that have been used and printed for Book Covers, Album Covers, CD Rom Covers, Posters, T-Shirts, Trading Cards, Game Covers, Advertising and Design.
He is known in the comic book industry for the forty-seven paintings he contributed in the 1995 Marvel Masterpieces trading card set which was considered by many the most successful card set by Marvel and also his covers on the Mars Attacks comic book series which soon became a motion picture directed by Tim Burton. In 1997 he illustrated a series of six covers for novels Published by Dark Horse and Orion Publishing based on the popular Sci-Fi movies of Aliens and Predator from Twentieth Century Fox. In 1998 he illustrated the 1999 Calendar for Chaos Comics that was a top seller in the industry. In the year 2000 he designed the characters and the packaging of the famous cult board game Cosmic Encounter for Hasbro Toys. Several of his creature designs from the series Symptoms where used by the T-shirt Company Fashion Victim. In 2002 the skateboard  and snowboard manufacturer Fun4u used his designs for their products.

 

In 2004 Completed a series of Conceptual Illustrations For EA Sports for the game Def Jam.

His original work has been sold and collected worldwide for several years now and he is placed in collectors’ list of top favorite of artists.

Since 1998 he started incorporating digital illustration in his work so as to expand in the field of computer-generated imagery and to help in the production process of his art.

In the year 2000 Dimitri retuned to Greece for a short period to give seminars in several design institutions on illustration, technique, design and also marketing and promotional direction to young Greek artists. His popularity since 1991 had grown in his homeland, which lead to several interviews on TV and Magazines. His trip to Greece also generated several collaborations with some of the finest in the News and Media Industry.

Dimitri has also been working as a producer in several art projects. One of his latest was being Producer and Artistic Director in the promotion and development of the video, catalog and website www.cofitis.com for the exhibition “The Big Bang” by Greek Contemporary Sculptor Cris Cofitis who’s show and work was presented on CNN’s World Report and displayed and presented on every respected TV station, newspapers and magazines nationwide.

For the past ten years his attraction in the fantasy arts has lead him to work on creature & character designs which for him is his most personal work.

Joining forces in 1998 with old friend and artist Lucas Wilton they founded Patelis & Lucas Media to launch these creations for the entertainment industry.

Official Website: www.dimitripatelis.com